One person is in custody

Published: Monday, November 26, 2012 at 03:33 PM.

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Neighbors Tara Warren and Melissa Gossett said Minnich was older and in poor health. They would see him outside the house often but said he kept to himself.

Castleman had only recently moved to the neighborhood, according to Gossett, Warren and Rhonda, a woman who lives next door and asked that her name be withheld.

Rhonda said she had few interactions with Castleman, whom she knew as Keith, and that the times they had talked left her feeling uneasy about her neighbor. She described him as creepy in a general sort of way.

The last time Rhonda talked to Castleman was Sunday night, when Castleman arranged for a man to return several items of Rhonda’s property that had been stolen from her home Thursday or Friday.

Rhonda said she agreed not to press charges in exchange for what remained of her property, but as the man was apologizing to her, Castleman made an odd comment.

“Last night he told me he was getting a divorce,” Rhonda said Monday.

Rhonda felt like Castleman was hitting on her, and she said she planned to avoid him for the next week or so if she could.

SPRINGFIELD — A father and his daughter had been dead for several days before police found their bodies in a mobile home Monday afternoon and charged her husband in the deaths.

Though police had never responded to the Castleman home on Transmitter Road before Monday, Springfield Police Chief Phillip Thorne said the death of 47-year-old Mary Ann Castleman and her 74-year-old father, Leroy Milton Minnich, appeared to be the result of a domestic dispute between Castleman and her husband, Brian Keith Castleman.

Castleman was arrested Monday, charged with two open counts of murder. Thorne said he made statements to police indicating he killed his wife and her father, but he declined to share details of the ongoing investigation. Police are not aware of any other suspects and don’t expect additional charges, Thorne said.

One neighbor described Castleman as a friend, and he said Castleman told him Friday that he would kill his wife.

On Friday, Castleman came to Ricardo Reynolds and said he’d been in fight with his wife, and the two went out to forget his troubles. Reynolds noticed his friend’s hand was cut, but Castleman explained the injury as the result of him breaking a glass in his hand during the argument.

Reynolds said he confronted his neighbor early Sunday morning because he hadn’t seen any activity at the residence since Friday.

Castleman told Reynolds he ambushed his wife with a hammer as she got out of the shower Friday. Reynolds said Castleman took him inside the residence and showed him the bodies of his wife and her father. Reynolds said they had been beaten and stabbed.

“It was enough to make somebody just break down and cry and panic,” Reynolds said Monday.

Reynolds said Castleman cried for a while after showing him the scene. Reynolds sat down in the other room and waited, then he cussed Reynolds out and told him to turn himself in. Then he prayed with Castleman, Reynolds said.

Reynolds believed Castleman felt deep remorse over the killings afterward, and he said Reynolds told him he’d snapped when he killed them.

Thorne described the slayings as “the ultimate domestic violence situation.” Reynolds and another neighbor said Castleman and his wife were having trouble in their relationship.

Neighbors Tara Warren and Melissa Gossett said Minnich was older and in poor health. They would see him outside the house often but said he kept to himself.

Castleman had only recently moved to the neighborhood, according to Gossett, Warren and Rhonda, a woman who lives next door and asked that her name be withheld.

Rhonda said she had few interactions with Castleman, whom she knew as Keith, and that the times they had talked left her feeling uneasy about her neighbor. She described him as creepy in a general sort of way.

The last time Rhonda talked to Castleman was Sunday night, when Castleman arranged for a man to return several items of Rhonda’s property that had been stolen from her home Thursday or Friday.

Rhonda said she agreed not to press charges in exchange for what remained of her property, but as the man was apologizing to her, Castleman made an odd comment.

“Last night he told me he was getting a divorce,” Rhonda said Monday.

Rhonda felt like Castleman was hitting on her, and she said she planned to avoid him for the next week or so if she could.

Castleman is likely to appear in court today for a bond hearing; murder suspects are usually held without bond.

An earlier version of this story is below:

Investigators have one person in custody in connection to the slaying of two people, a man and a woman, in Springfield. Officials with the Springfield Police Department, The Medical Examiner's Office and the Bay County Sheriff's Office are working on the case. The incident appears to be a homicide involving family members. The slaying happened at a mobile home park located at 700 Transmitter Road.

Police were called shortly before noon and told that they would find bodies in the trailer, officials said.

"We believe they have been in there a few days," said Chief Phillip Thorne, of the Springfield Police Department.

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